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June 12, 2017

Indian Air Force to hold limited trials of American F-16, Swedish Saab Gripen fighter aircraft

The Indian Air Force will hold limited trials of the American F-16 and
Swedish Saab Gripen fighter aircraft for selecting the foreign partner
to build 120 combat planes under the Make in India project.

The total worth of the deal is estimated to be around $20 billion (Rs 1.3 lakh crore).

IAF
sources said the two planes had undergone extensive trials seven years
ago when the IAF was evaluating aircraft for buying 126 mediummultirole
combat aircraft (M-MRCA).

"We have chosen the two planes based on
evaluation done by us seven years ago. For the Make in India project,
we will now hold trials of only those capabilities which they were found
to be lacking in these aircraft in those days," an IAF officer told
Mail Today.

Sources said during the M-MRCA trials, the F-16 was
not selected as it was found that there was no potential for developing
the aircraft further while the Saab Gripen did not have advanced radar
called AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array), which was mandatory
requirement in that project.

TESTING NEW CAPABILITIES

IAF
sources said both the firms have informed the air force that they would
be fully compliant to the requirements now as the American firm has
come up with a latest version of the F-16 known as Block 70 while the
Swedish firm has also acquired the advanced AESA radar.

"To test
the new capabilities, there would a limited trial only and we are hoping
to select and finalise the foreign partner within the next one year,"
the IAF sources said.

The 120 single-engine fighter jets would be
used by the IAF to replace its ageing fleet of the Russian MiG-series
planes including the MiG-21s and the MiG-27s which form the backbone of
the Indian fighter plane fleet.

REPLACING MiGs

Almost
all the variants of the MiG-21s and MiG-27s would retire by the year
2025 and the IAF is hoping that their replacements would be ready for
induction into the service in form of the indigenous Light Combat
Aircraft and the 120 'Made in India' fighter planes.

The IAF has
plans of inducting around 123 LCA combat jets as the NDA government
recently gave clearance to a Rs 50,000 crore project to induct 83 planes
and augment the rate of production of these planes in the state-owned
HAL in Bangalore.

Meanwhile, the Navy is testing the American
F-18 and the French Dassault for acquiring 57 twin-engine planes for its
next aircraft carrier Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC).

Asked
about the need for acquiring twin-engine fighter aircraft in the
category of Rafale-36 which have been contracted for the IAF, the
sources said India would hold a separate competition for those aircraft
but only after the single engine fighter aircraft competition is
completed.

The IAF has 33 squadrons of fighter aircraft in its
inventory, which includes mainly single-engine planes like MiG 21s and
MiG 27s along with Su-30MKI, MiG 29 and Jaguar.